


Second Quest

by rynling



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Downfall Timeline, Dystopian Hyrule, F/M, Lorule Creation Myth, This Does Not End Well, Zelda Warrior Princess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 13:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4180836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rynling/pseuds/rynling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hero defeats the evil demon king and saves the beautiful princess, and yet it is not enough, almost as if victory were not the desired outcome. Why was it necessary that a second quest be undertaken?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Quest

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written in response to an anonymous prompt on the Dreamwidth community [areyougame](http://areyougame.dreamwidth.org/): "Second Quest – If it had been the real sequel, and why it had to be done."

She was safe and warm, and everything was quiet, but suddenly her peace was shattered.

"Princess! Are you okay?"

Zelda opened her eyes. A boyish face streaked with grime hovered above her.

"Who are you," she croaked. Her throat was dry, and she was hideously thirsty.

"My name is Link! Princess, I saved you from Ganon!"

"You did not," she coughed. She tried to stand, but her legs were weak, and she stumbled. The young man caught her. He exuded a sour smell, and his tunic was soaked with blood. "Take me to him," she ordered.

"That thing is just – "

He gestured to the stone arch connecting this room to the next, not bothering to finish his sentence. He didn't need to, for the giant body sprawled across the threshold was impossible to miss. The creature lying on its side was a monstrous horned boar that had once stood like a man but was now surrounded by a puddle of blood slowly oozing across the floor.

"It can't be," Zelda said, shoving away from Link and staggering to the downed beast. She clutched at it, burying her hands in its matted fur, but it was not breathing, and its eyes were glazed a milky white.

"No! Ganon! No!" Zelda pounded her fists into the body as she screamed, as if her denial could somehow restore the spark of life.

She spun around to face Link. "What have you done," she hissed. "What have you done!"

"Princess, I thought," he stammered, "I rescued you! The Triforce is restored."

Zelda walked back to Link, her footsteps squelching.

"Let me see it," she demanded, her eyes blazing. "Show me the Triforce."

"As you command," he said, obviously taken aback. He stepped onto the dais on which she had rested and raised his arms above his head. A golden triangle spun between his hands. The demon boar's body flashed with a radiant light, and a second triangle joined the first. The young man's left hand began to shine, and a third triangle emerged. He backed away, leaving the triangles to spin around each other in a slow dance. This was indeed the Triforce, a relic that would grant the dearest wish of anyone who touched it. It was beautiful and awful to behold.

"It has all been for nothing," Zelda said to herself, unable to tear her eyes away.

"Princess?" Link's voice wavered, uncertain. Zelda did not respond.

"Now we wish on the Triforce, right? To restore Hyrule to its former glory?"

"To its former glory, yes."

"Princess? Are you all right?"

She said nothing but continued to gaze at the Triforce.

"Princess?"

"Yes. Yes, Link, I'm fine. We must wish on the Triforce. But first, let me – " Her voice cracked, and she swallowed. "But first, let me bless your blade, hero."

Link smiled and trotted over to her. He unsheathed his sword, and it blazed with a silver gleam, the only item on his person not spattered with gore. Zelda stretched out her hand, and he gently placed the hilt in her palm. It was as heavy as lead and burned her fingers with a searing heat. She was not the sword's chosen bearer, but she could wield it long enough to achieve her purpose. She peered into Link's face.

"But you are just a child," she murmured, her voice full of sorrow. "You are only a child."

Link gasped and then vomited blood onto the sword that now emerged from his chest. Zelda withdrew the blade and kicked Link away. He fell as if he were made of straw.

Zelda ran her hand along the blade's beveled edge, cutting herself and mixing her blood with that of Link and the boar before casting the sword away. It clattered on the stone floor as she approached the Triforce. She thrust out her bloodied hand, and the three triangles coalesced into one.

_What is your desire, Vessel of Wisdom?_

Three angelic voices sounded as one in Zelda's head, and in her heart she cursed them.

"Take me back," she growled through gritted teeth. "Take me back."

Nothing happened, and she cried out in desperation. "Take me back! Take me back! Take me – "

▲      ▲      ▲

" – back! Take me back!" she screamed into the empty hallway, tears streaming down her face.

"Princess!"

Zelda spun around and saw Ganon rushing toward her. She began sobbing as she fell into him, grabbing his cape and pressing her face against his chest. He held her tightly as she wept. After she had exhausted the last of her lifeforce to split the Triforce of Wisdom, how had he found her? How long had he searched? How long had she slept? How long had he protected her? Why had he stayed at her side?

Ganon had been captured as a young child, the son of a thief. When his mother died, shot in the back as she fled with him into the night, he had turned back to fight. It had taken an entire squadron of soldiers to subdue him and drag him to the castle. No chains could hold him, and so an augury was performed, revealing him to be the Vessel of Power. The king had sensed his potential and offered him glory in return for his service, and the boy had accepted. He had risen through military ranks like a hawk on an updraft, and Zelda knew her father feared him.

She stepped away from him, wiping away her tears with the back of her gloved hand. When she looked at him again, her eyes shone like polished steel.

"Ganon, we don't have much time. We have to flee the castle immediately."

"Princess, you must forgive me, but I don't understand."

"We can't let the king unite the Triforce," she said, taking his hand.

"We've discussed this. Using the Triforce is the only way to end the war."

"You foolish man!" Zelda spat. They were alone in the corridor, the castle personnel having already evacuated. Zelda shot a glance through one of the windows set into the stone of the castle. She could not see the opposing army camped beyond the walls, so there might still be a chance for them to escape. She knew Ganon would not obey her blindly, and so she pulled him into a nearby stateroom, shutting the door after them. He began to speak, but she silenced him.

"The king intends to use the Triforce to eliminate his enemies."

Zelda sighed, giving herself a moment to organize her thoughts before continuing.

"The war he started to bolster his political standing has spiraled out of his control, and he resents everyone involved. He even resents me for being the Vessel of the Triforce of Wisdom, which he considers to be his own to use. He has grown bitter and strange, and he imagines enemies everywhere. Don't you see? If he uses the Triforce to wish for the destruction of those he believes oppose him, he will destroy _everything_. The holocaust he creates will be unimaginable, and there will scarcely be anyone left alive in this land after it is finished."

"Princess – "

"We don't have time to debate this. If he has already found the Vessel of Courage, then there will be nothing standing in his way save for the two of us, and he would gladly kill me to transfer my Triforce into a new vessel. We need to get as far away from him as we can. He cannot be allowed bring the pieces together!"

"But Princess," Ganon said quietly, "you are not the Vessel of Wisdom. The king holds the Triforce."

Zelda pulled off her glove and held her hand in front of her. The golden triangle was not on her skin. She could feel the blood drain from her face.

"Then you have no choice," she said. "You must leave the castle, and quickly. Go back to your mother's people in the desert. The king cannot follow you there."

"I sense there is much you're not telling me, Princess, but I cannot defy the will of the king."

"The king is not of sound mind! If you care for me, then you will stand against my father!"

"And he will hunt me down like an animal. I will not be his prisoner again."

"You are his prisoner now!" Zelda clenched her fists in frustration. "He has pierced your nose with a ring of servility, and he intends to lead you into an abattoir. You yourself cannot be slaughtered, but you will witness the end of everyone who now stands on the soil of this kingdom, the guilty and the innocent alike."

"Yesterday you said – "

"Yesterday my eyes were clouded. I was thinking of the future of the royal family when I should have been thinking of the future of Hyrule."

Ganon's face twisted.

"Princess," he said softly, "there is no such place."

Zelda frowned. "What are you saying? This is Hyrule."

"This is Lorule, and so ever has it been." Ganon shook his head. "I know how hard you have worked, but you must rest, and I must meet with the king."

He turned and left the room without looking back. After the door shut behind him, Zelda sank into a chair and buried her face in her hands.

▲      ▲      ▲

The night was overcast, but the full moon shone eerily through the clouds, casting dark shadows. Zelda made her way around the rim of the courtyard and toward the gate carved into the castle's outer wall. Her heart leapt in her chest with the sound of her every footfall, but see could see no soldiers. She wore the green tunic and homespun cap of a peasant, and she carried nothing on her person, having sent her nursemaid Impa away with her late mother's sword two nights ago.

She had succeeded in delaying the king but could not dissuade him, and now she could only run away, warning everyone she encountered to follow her for as far as their legs could carry them.

Zelda moved quickly through the darkness lining the walls as memories of her journey across the wasteland that had once been Hyrule rose unbidden in her mind. She had traveled to the eight temples, using a portion of her lifeforce to create a guardian that would watch over each shard of the Triforce of Wisdom. Ganon had helped her shatter it at great cost to himself. His body had been broken along with the Triforce, and his blood had spilled endlessly across the ashes of the ruined kingdom. She alone had returned to the dungeon maze concealing the temple under Hyrule Castle, the only part of the structure that remained after death had spilled out of it and rolled down from the mountain.

As if to mirror her thoughts, a golden light flashed from the highest windows of the castle, and the courtyard was suddenly as bright as day. Zelda's right had was enveloped in a fierce pain, but she paid it no heed. She was struck dumb with panic. It was too late, and she could not escape.

Ganon burst from the castle and dashed to Zelda.

"You were right," he said, seizing her hand and pulling her along with him toward the gate. "You were always right."

"What has become of the king?"

"He killed the Vessel of Courage to bind his Triforce to the others, but something went wrong. My Triforce returned to me, and the Triforce of Wisdom broke into pieces, but the king's wish may still be granted. We must leave this place at once!"

"How did you find me?" she asked as she raced behind him.

He stopped running and released her hand. The mark of the Triforce of Power glowed on the back of his hand, and, next to it, the mark of the Triforce of Courage shone from hers.

Another pulse of golden light erupted from the castle. Zelda threw her hand in front of her eyes.

"We'll never make it," Ganon cursed.

"Yes, we will," Zelda said. "You have to use the Triforce of Power."

"What do you – "

"There's no time!" Zelda cried, flicking a dagger from the sleeve of her undershirt and plunging it into Ganon's ribs.

He roared as he struck her, sending her tumbling onto the ground. She immediately sprang up and sent her foot straight into his knee. He screamed with rage and began to transform, his spine bending as murderous teeth pushed their way from his mouth.

"That's right," Zelda whispered, and he looked at her with sudden and terrible understanding, his eyes muddy with pain. She stepped forward and cradled his head in her arms as it lengthened and bristled. After an endless moment, it was over. The enormous boar that now stood before her bowed its legs, and she leapt onto its back. Leaning forward, she said into its ear, "We must go south."

Ganon did not falter but flew through the castle gate. The way forward was lit by the eldritch light beaming from the castle windows.

They rode for two days, finally stopping during the second night on the shores of the river separating the plains of the kingdom from the southern swamp. Many had followed behind them, breaking away for the western desert and the eastern sea, but untold numbers had perished in the great golden light. Finally the ghastly power of the Goddesses receded, but Zelda knew that nothing would be left behind in its wake. There would be no people, no towns, no animals – only barren sand and desiccated scrubs and toxic water.

The swollen river was still untainted, however, and Ganon lapped at it greedily before choking. His body shrank as his sides heaved, and his form returned to something resembling a man – and yet far removed from the man he once was.

Zelda knelt beside him as he caught his breath.

"I am becoming not myself," he muttered.

"You will have to hold on," she said. "You must find the new Vessel of Wisdom. Take her to the temple underneath the castle on the mountain."

"And what will you do?"

"I will gather the fragments of the Triforce."

"Zelda." He reached up and touched his hand against her face. His filth-encrusted claws were cold against her skin, yet she lay her hand over his and pressed her cheek into his palm.

"This land is beyond saving. What good will it do to wish for anything? Stay with me, and we can leave all of this behind."

"You know I can't do that."

"I've always known," he said, closing his eyes.

"The Triforce is too dangerous. For the sake of Lorule, I must find a way to destroy it."

"Destroy it for my sake as well. And if I lose myself..."

"I'll do what I have to." Her tears cut twin tracks into the dirt on her face. "But you must trust that we will meet again in the ruins of the castle."

Ganon climbed to his feet, drawing Zelda up along with him. She embraced him.

"May fortune shine on your quest," he said, holding her close. "It will be dangerous, but know that you will never be alone."


End file.
